Microcredit and Gender
The Role of Private and Public Funded Micro-credit Programs: Case studies of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra
R. Siva Prasad*
Poverty is one of the common denominators and also a major threat to the stability of all the South Asian countries. There are historical, socio-cultural, political and economic reasons for the marginalization of many communities in South Asia. Since their causes are similar, there is a greater relevance of sharing experiences to mitigate poverty among the marginalized communities. In South Asia, like in many developing and underdeveloped countries, women are more marginalised and neglected as compared to their male counterparts.
Women are the real managers of the food basket of the poor households and empowering them and enhancing their strength is a sure way of eliminating poverty among the marginalized communities. Initial handholding is an important step but should not become long-term. If that happens, the dependency syndrome will set in and douse their creativity, entrepreneurial enthusiasm and initiatives.
It is widely agreed that promotion of self-help groups (SHGs) through micro-credit has effectively changed the entrepreneurial abilities of women from the disadvantaged sections in South Asia. The examples of Grameen from Bangladesh, SEWA and BASICS from India, etc., highlight the impetus given to gender power. These efforts have thrown open new opportunities or avenues and turned around the skills and abilities of the poor, especially the women, into strengths.
The poor, especially women, though lack physical, natural and financial capitals and assets; yet they possess strong human and social capitals. Thus, absence of these capitals was not considered as hindrance to empower women by providing them requisite financial capital through micro-credit organization. Therefore, non-possession of assets and resources is regarded as a challenge to development and removal of inequalities and poverty.
The peripatetic nomadic communities are more marginalized than any of the poor, as they lack any citizenry rights due to their nomadic nature. Women from these communities are doubly disadvantaged, one as poor and marginalized, and another as women. This paper attempts to study the operation of micro-credit in two peripatetic nomadic communities with two diverse sources of micro-credit.
Sources of Data:
For this research, two peripatetic nomadic communities speaking Telugu but located in the urban settlements of two different States of India – Poosala in Hyderabad of Andhra Pradesh and Vaidu in Solapur of Maharashtra – were chosen. In the case of Poosala, micro-credit is provided by private micro-credit agencies and in case of Vaidu, micro-credit is provided by the government agency, the Municipal Corporation, as a development initiative.
Primary data was gathered from these two communities during February-March 2008 using focus groups and informal interviewing techniques. Besides, data from secondary sources such as reports, published and unpublished research papers, and other relevant literature available in India as well as other South Asian countries will be used for drawing inferences and critical viewing.
Objectives:
- To investigate how micro-credit can help improve the livelihood conditions of peripatetic nomadic communities, especially women;
- To examine the functioning of women self-help groups and the lessons learnt for streamlining micro-credit;
- To analyze the role of government as well as private initiatives in micro-credit promotion; and
- To find out what needs to be done to make the process more vibrant and gender friendly.
Expected Findings:
- The existing conditions of the marginalized communities, and more so of women among them, is due to the policies as well as the enactment of laws adopted, unmindful of their logical consequences on the people. These are resorted to without providing any suitable and sustainable alternatives.
- Wrong policies and enactments have not only made the marginal communities vulnerable but also turned them into communities looking towards others for their mercy and considerations.
- Emergence of self-help movement has benefited the marginal communities, more so the women, to a certain extent.
- Turning the self-help movement into some sort of governmental schemes has only negatively impacted the process, leading to misuse of funds and corruption. Bureaucratization of SHGs and micro-credit goes against the spirit of the whole idea itself.
- Micro-credit has now turned into a business proposition for some of the private players and NGOs.
- Micro-credit can be the best bet to challenge poverty and to emancipate the poor, especially women, from the clutches of poverty.
 * Dr. R. Siva Prasad is an Associate Professor and Reader at the Department of Anthropology, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad-500046, Andhra Pradesh, India. He has extensive fieldwork experience in different States of India and has also worked on diverse themes focusing on the poor and vulnerable sections of Indian society.
Women’s Access to and Control over Micro credit in a Rural Context
Shaheen Rafi Khan*
Microfinance is now an increasingly important tool for poverty alleviation in the world. The global outreach of microfinance schemes has increased significantly in the recent past. “The World Bank estimated that the total number of microfinance institutions worldwide approximated 7000, with a total outreach of about 16 million borrowers, and lending of about $2.5 billion.” (GDRC, n.d) Pakistan has not lagged behind in this exciting development initiative -- either institutionally nor in terms of volumetric disbursements.
Targeting rural woman presents formidable obstacles, not only because it entails lifting them out of abject poverty, but also because development practitioners are forced to negotiate a maze of social and cultural barriers endemic to patriarchal societies. Indeed, discerning literature tends to be dismissive about the outcome of microcredit initiatives. This study hypothesizes that social mobilization synergizes the empowerment effects of microcredit; alternatively, it is a pre-requisite to such empowerment. Basically, the study investigates whether social capital painstakingly built up over many years could serve as the building block upon which a solid edifice of institutional delivery, income generation and empowerment could be constructed.
The study also addresses two hard questions. The first, ‘Is microcredit a commercial or a development activity?’ stemmed from the reported intent of the State Bank and the donors to force-feed this sector and reorient credit delivery along strictly commercial lines. What would be the consequences of such force-feeding for laboriously built social capital endowments, for family and communal harmony, indeed for the integrity of the development process itself. The second question, ‘Is microcredit being accessed by economically marginalized women?’ is more intuitive. Are there social, cultural, institutional or programmatic barriers to including the poorest of the poor? The premise is that no matter how hard one tries, the most neglected will fall through the cracks and, that, by identifying them, one can develop safety networks to bring them within the fold.
The study represents a modest effort to address difficult questions. We hope it will elicit some degree of operational response, a modicum of policy change and induce discussion and further research.
References:
GDRC (n.d): http://www.gdrc.org/icm/data/d-snapshot.html
* Dr. Shaheen Rafi Khan is a Visiting Research Fellow at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute, Islamabad, Pakistan. He earned his Ph.D. in economics from the Columbia University, USA.
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